


Game Night

by TLynn



Category: The X-Files
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, F/M, The X-Files Revival
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-09-16
Updated: 2015-09-16
Packaged: 2018-04-21 01:00:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,629
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4808891
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TLynn/pseuds/TLynn
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>They make perfect sense.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Game Night

**Author's Note:**

> This is a revival AU, so to speak, if any of the rumors are true.
> 
> Speacial thanks to aloysiavirgata, icedteainthebag, leiascully, and dashakay for beta, encouragement, and title suggestions. Squad, you complete me.

They’d started out playing gin. But as the sun continued to melt below the horizon, leaving the oppressive humidity behind and one beer each turned into three, Go Fish was the name of the game. It was near dark now, and they sat at their small dining table in the kitchen, the ceiling fan doing little to help cool the air. One bulb was burnt out in the overhead light fixture and the kitchen faucet was leaking, but they’d grown so accustomed to the dim light and the sound of dripping water, it was of little consequence to either of them that he’d promised weeks ago to fix both. His laptop sat open on a chair next to him with a running feed of conspiracy theory chat room conversations on the screen, a quiet ding notifying him of specific words or phrases he was monitoring.

“Do you have any...” Mulder started, eyes squinting at the backside of her cards as though he could see her hand. “Twos?”

A smile pulled at her lips as she brought the bottle of local IPA up to her mouth for another swig. It was the end of the bottle and the drink had lost most of its chill. “Do we have any more in the fridge?” she asked.

“Here,” he said, pushing his half-full drink over to her. “You can finish mine. Now answer the question, Doctor Scully.”

She smiled again and made a show of studying her hand very carefully, lifting her eyebrow and peeking an eye over the fan of cards. 

“Twos?” she asked.

“Twos,” he said.

“Ummmm...”

“The suspense is killin’ me,” he said, clutching his hand over his heart in mock anguish.

“Go Fish,” she finally answered, triumphant.

“Aaaargh,” he said, and threw down his hand in mock frustration. “I’m sick of this game.”

She threw her head back and laughed, her cheeks flushed from both the Virginia summer heat and the alcohol she had consumed. He smiled and leaned back in his chair, taking a moment to drink in the sight of her. Her appearance belied her age; even though he’d been there, right at that table, celebrating her fiftieth birthday with her just six months previous, he could have sworn she hadn’t aged at all in the last fifteen years. She sat in her chair, one bare leg tucked under her, the other hanging down and swinging, toes barely able to touch the linoleum floor. Her hair was piled on top of her head in a messy bun and her glasses rested atop her nose. She was wearing that t-shirt he pretended to hate, the one that had a fox on it and said, in big bold letters, “For Fox Sake”. She’d brought it home one night a few weeks ago and tried to give it to him.

_“You’ve got to be kidding,” he said._

_“What?” she asked, barely able to contain her laughter. “I saw it at the mall today and it made me think of you instantly. I thought you’d love it!”_

_“I’m not wearing that, Scully.”_

_“Fine, then I will. It’ll make a perfect night shirt.”_

_“You’re not wearing it, either,” he said and moved to snatch it from her hands._

_She was too quick, though, and side stepped his advance and giggled as he stumbled forward._

_“You know, it’s rude to reject a gift from someone,” she remarked pointedly and walked down the hall to the bathroom, shutting the door behind her._

_She did indeed wear it to bed that night. He quickly divested her of it, of course, and one of their more memorable nights of foreplay and sex ensued. He was okay with the shirt after that. Mostly._

He smiled at the memory. 

“What’s so funny?” she asked.

He glanced around at the empty bottles littering the tabletop. “Hey, wanna play Truth or Dare?” he asked, eyebrows waggling.

She laughed again. It was his favorite sound, her laugh. He didn’t know that until recently, until they’d settled into this current life together. For so many years, they’d chased down answers to questions no one should have to ask, their lives lived together but apart, holding each other up through injustices and tragedies, illnesses and deaths, memories and losses. They’d almost lost each other more times than he could count. There had been a shift in recent years, however, and it was as though they’d made a silent pledge to never let anything, no matter how dark or dividing it had the potential to be, splinter them again. 

“Okay, fine,” she said, a gleam in her eye. “Dare.”

“Ooh!” he grinned. “That’s not the answer I was expecting. Okay, how about you take that shirt off...”

She immediately grabbed the hem and started to pull the shirt up.

“...and go throw it in the trash,” he finished, leaning back in his chair, arms crossed, a satisfied smile on his face.

Her arms fell to her sides and her eyes narrowed.

“Truth.”

“That’s not how the game is played,” he laughed. “But fine. Ummm...when did you realize shoulder pads were not the right look for you?”

“Mulderrrrrrr,” she whined, drinking down the last of the beer in her hand.

He chuckled, then grew thoughtful, silent as he tried to decide which direction to take this game.

“What’s one of your biggest regrets in life?”

“Wow, way to get heavy,” she teased.

“I’m serious, Scully,” he pressed.

She looked down, her fingers worrying at the hem of her t-shirt. After several long minutes, she lifted her head and met his gaze.

“Telling you that I wasn’t coming home if you didn’t stop looking into the darkness. That wasn’t fair of me and I promise I’ll never do that to you again.” Then, before he could reply, “Truth or dare?”

“Truth.”

“What’s one of _your_ biggest regrets in life?”

“Leaving you and William,” he said immediately, his son’s name catching in his throat.

She nodded, tears stinging at her eyes. “You did what you thought was right at the time, Mulder, I don’t blame you.”

“I’ll always regret it,” he said. Then, “Truth or dare?”

“Truth.”

“Do you blame me for having to make the choice to give up our son?”

“I’ve told you before, no. I don’t.”

“Truth, Scully.”

“No,” she shook her head, tears welling and threatening to spill down her cheeks. “I did what I thought I had to do to keep him safe and it didn’t matter who was there and who wasn’t.”

“If I’d been there, maybe I could have kept him safe,” he offered quietly.

She reached across the table, across the playing cards, and grasped his hands with her own. “Mulder, no,” she said gently. “We’ve been through this. Please look at me.”

“It weighs on me, Scully,” he said, lifting his head up again. “Leaving you two behind will always be my biggest regret.”

He took her left hand in his and turned it palm up, the fingertips of his right hand coming over to trace small circles on the inside of her wrist, down her palm, and along the length of her fingers. Her eyes closed and she hummed lightly, his light touch sending shivers through her body. 

“Truth or dare?” he asked.

“It’s my turn,” she protested, eyes still closed. He extended the range of his touch to the soft, delicate skin on the inside of her forearm and he could feel her body relax even further.

“Truth or dare?” he asked again.

“Truth,” she mumbled.

“Do you ever still think about not coming home?” he asked.

Her eyes shot open and her brow furrowed. She studied him, even as he continued to caress her, and she was startled by the insecurity she saw in his eyes.

“Mulder, no,” she said, her tone firm. “Listen to me. No. Not coming home to you, after all we’ve been through? It doesn’t make sense. You are as much a part of me as I am of you and we’ve worked too damn hard not to have this happiness we have now. And my life, my world, would be far too uninteresting without you in it. Even if we never are truly alone.”

He cocked his head and his eyes widened playfully. “Scully, are you finally admitting you believe in the existence of extraterrestrials and that they are present on our planet?”

“I was referring to your chat room buddies,” she said, looking pointedly at his laptop.

They both chuckled and the room grew silent again, save for the occasional ding and the occasional drip, the gentle whir of the fan above them. “We’ve been through some shit, haven’t we?” he asked, his voice quiet, introspective.

“More than our share,” she agreed. “Which is why deserve to be happy on this side of it all.”

She pulled her hand from his, pushed her chair back and stood. She crossed her arms, grabbed the hem of her shirt, and pulled it up and over her head. Her bare breasts bounced slightly as she threw the shirt past his head and a drop of sweat dripped down them as she hooked her fingers in the waistband of her white cotton underwear and pushed them down her legs. He shifted in his seat and smiled in appreciation at the sight of her before him, a sight he knew he would never tire of.

“Now, let’s stop with this foolishness and play the game properly,” she suggested, resting her hand on her bare hip. “Truth or dare?”

He quickly closed his laptop and it clattered to the ground. She gasped softly and he was upon her, his mouth pressed against hers, tongue pushing through her lips and eager for her taste.

 _This,_ he thought. _Them. Together. It just made perfect sense._


End file.
